Automatic garage-door opener



Feb. 2s, 1928.

6 1,660,621 J. L.. LOVE AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Jan. ll, 1927 v/Z .2. 3 L

'to support and Y they operate alternately them will lie depressed and yout ot the'path 'Patented ret. as, 192s.

JAMnsnLovn, or Los Antennas, CALIFORNIA.. f

AUTOMATIC GARAGE-noon ornnna.

Application tied January 11, 1927. serial' Nd. 160,333.

This invention relates to a device tor automatically opening or closing the door` or doors ot a garage; 'IheV general purpose o'l;

the invention is'to provide a simple device avoid the necessity' torthe driver of the car getting out ot the of this kind'` which will car to openthe door whenhevdesiresto run his car into the garage.

rIhe general object of the invention is to produce a' simpledevice for this purpose and to construct the same so that it will operate not only to open the doors as Ythe car asses into the garage but also to close them when the car withdraws from the garage. To this end the invention includes means disposed in the path'o' a part of the autof mobile, and such means is duplicated, that is to say, I provide two members, alternately actuated one of which, when struck by the car going in, opens the doors, vand the other, struck by thek car coming out, closes the doors. One of the objects of the invention is guide these devices so that and so that one of of the actuating part on the car when the other is. elevated into its operating position. 'A further object ot' the invention is to provide simple means for actuating the garage doors'.

Further objects pear hereinafter.

The invention consists of thenovel parts' of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to pro-'f and combination duce an efficient opener.` f i A preferred embodiment ofthe invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope ofV the invention is pointed out in the'appended claims.

In the drawing:

automatic garage door f Figurel 1 is aplan and partial section, cer

tain parts being broken away, and illustrating the apparatus as applied to a double door garage. n

Figure 2 is a vertical section, broken away,

i taken about on the line 2-2 of Figure l,

and also illustrating the forward end of an automobile, to indicate the manner in which it may operate the actuators to'control the doors. Y y Y Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4: is a Irontvelevation of a portion f tudinally of the driveway,

another embodiment ot the invention as re va suitable bearing Son Each ydoor l is provided 'with straps 9 that supporting and v ot the invention' will apofthe garage and illustratingV the manner l which the v garage doors arefsupported so ras* toenable them to swing open or closed. Iny this view certain parts are broken away.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view yshowing al plan of the'upper end ol.: the swivel post which supports each' garage door, andshowing av short portion ofthe supportingV beam of the garage.

Figure 6 is aV vertical section taken longigards the means for actuating the doors. p

In practicing the invention as appliedto a double door garage, I providea cross-head 1 which is mounted ina chamber or formed under .the Viloor o'l the garage.

Any ysuitable meansv may instance, Ifprovide a rack 5v ateachv end oi the cross-head; each rack meshes with a pinion 6 "which" is 'secured' to the'pivot or pivot post 7 of the door. .Below this pinion the swivel post of each :door isv mounted 1n the `floor of thel box.

vare riveted to each side ofthe door at its hinged edge, aV channelgor"r,ecessV 10 which"` receives the post as' indicated in Figure 1.

and illustrating box Q be provided "for enabling this cross-head to swing the'garagel vdoors l open and closed, and in the presentv and the A'door is provided with I In order yto actuate the cross-head 1, I provide a shitting bar v11which'i's'mounted -to slide longitudinally in the driveway 12 of the garage. c

i I provide means for shifting this shitting bar inwardly Y when 'the car goes into the garage, so asto'swingthe doors open, and this 'pmeans also operates when the car comes out of the garage, to swing the doors closed. K.

According to Iny invention I provide two a part of the car, p car axle. This apparatus will now'be de# scribed. In'the driveway I providea4 cham- These 1 actuators are connected with the/shitting bar'A 11, and I provide means for 'support-ing. and guiding'l way the actuators are madeto operate alter# actuators Vwhich are located in the path` of' i or abracket carried on the 1 Y10o ber or box 13 yin whichv I provide two actu-1 ators 14 and 15.

,y whilethe other actuatorwillbe left in an elevated position. Inthis o,

g actuator nately- As illustratedl in Figure 2, each consists of a bar which is yguided` to slide lon'gitudinelly,y through Vawtransverse v opening ll'in a rocker-bar 18. -These rocker bars 18 are per part of of the actuato at its upper or other resil shock when th The lower nected vertical plat mounted transversely in the'upboXA or chamber 13.y Each r bars 14-and 15 isprovided end with aV head"19'oirubberV ient materiahso as to reducethe ward the` garage.l h a .bracketV consisting of V two @s 23 axle 24of the car.

e end oftlie actuator is struck. end of. each..actuator bar is conmeans of 21 :with a split sleeve on the shiftingbar 1 1.

Figure .2 represents the car proceeding to provided wit a yoke 2Q' andy a pivot 22, which. is clamped 16 as tliOugli This car isattached4 to the forward' As the car movesV toward the garageit willstrike theupper endoflthe actuator which. `.vatedaboveY the upper end. of the actuator atthah time willI be. ele- 15. This willcausethe-actuator 1 4 to slide through` the guide rocker 13 shiftingibar 11 toward thev and shift the garage.y This will produce-a, corresponding movement in' with Y thel the racks K vliich;y

pinions` through their connection' 6,r will swing' the doors open.. As:V this.movement progresses," the` heady 19"' will`v eventuallyl move to a h of4 the bracket23, and the pass over it and int river of* thecar can swing the belowthe.. pat

car willthen Afterthe. l

the f garage he closed. by tali operate Y the actuator the doors.

The shiftingibar. llmayg guided bymeans': of 'small disposed 1in aninclined sides of the bar.1 Th Vand the rollers aregroovedso asto fit-to the side' of the bar.

box or chamber13f 26' to which the V brackets carrying these rollersareattached,

order to Vsupport post 7 extends the doorway, ,at v vided with acro up through: which ss-pin 28.

point i o thegarage;y comes out.Y of garage doors ng. hold of theinor' he may supportedA and guide rollers 25- position onkopposite isfbar 'is. otL round formi The lower portion of the hasin .clined side faces l seeF-igure' each door` 4, its pivot a beam27. over point-each. .pestis Qro- The endsof t .ese

pins. may project beyond the` post` and carry ro llers 2 9' which roll-around onvafwasher o r plate 30 resting on the u pperiace of the beam. If' desired,

however, where the or cementis provided., the

weight-'of the door can be taken on the lower v end ofthe post'7. 'In Figurel I illustrateanother embodi- Y mentA of lustrated in F ator I provid The lever 31 A bracket or theinven'tion in whichv theactuators.v are of ai rocker'type,insteadlofy igure 2. In .this type of actu.- e two rockflevers thev form. illA 3l and 32.

i's the one that wouldbe actu-` at'edl byythe vcar in passing into the garage.

tej33` on the car` wouldstrike .doors 'are partially. open.

the upwardly projecting arm 34`ofthis lever and swing it toward the'left on its pivot pin 35; The lowerlend ofitliefl'ever hasaa slot or groove 36, which engages a cross-pin 37 in a shifting bar 38. l

In ordertol provide a cushion elect when the bracket 33 strikes the arm 34, I provide apivotedbumper'B9 on the upper end of the 'i Yarm 34, that is pressed toward the right byy a coilsprmg 40. When the bracket- 33 strikes the bumper 39,V thisU spring 40,r of course,is compressed, and in this way the jar. of the suddencontactisyieldingly takenup by the rocker lever'. VThe arm: 34lhas anso setA orlateral extension A4l, thefeilectof lwhich` is'to'increase thefvertical movement otthe arm 34 whenthe arm is operated. 'This desirable because it increases the verticali range oi movement offthetwo rocker arms 31 and 32withk respecta to each 'otherY andy enables. one tofproject to aconsiderable ele.-

vation above. the otherv in ther alternating movements of the. two rockery arms.

The construction ofthe. rock-leverY substantially the same as that of the lever and the votherxa left-h and. lever.' In other` words, the upper. arm 42'.. offl the rock-lever therightbymeansot a lateral.` r0ck-lever 32 is rocked.` I

32 is offset to extension 43.. ThisVV on-:its pivot pin 44-.when the cars moves out of the garage, by engagement. with the bracket-plate33 viewed in Figure 6.

arm 42 has a bumper 45sim1lar in construction and function to arm 3.4.V partially def be when the 'garage As the movement willbe depressed Figure V6! showsf the pressechasr it` would struction ofthe Vcross-head 1 would be theV in.V Figure 1, except that` ocated on the adjaeV centsides of the pinionsk G finstead. of. ontheir same as illustrated the racks 5v would be l outer-sides. v A v The arms 34.and 425 eXtend yupthrough slots 47Min` the upper side of the box yor housing 48that houses located at the surface 49 of the driveway.- These slots may be coveredv by sliding., plates 50V which, if desired,maywcarr= rollers 5 1. 0n-

theirV under sides. These. p ates `50k comthe bumper 39,; and` pressed toward the garage by a spring 46.

plate to pass onAV the levers, and1 are 31 exceptthatone isaright-handllever moving toward the right, t asi Y The upper end oi" this lll() ,no v

become depressed the connecting the by the axle,

pletely cover the slots and assist in keeping rain water out of the box.

It is understood thatthe embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor` in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. In an automatic garage door opener, the combination of a door mounted to swing on a vertical axis, a bar guided to slide longitudinally toward'orv from the garage door and located in the driveway, actuating means mounted in the driveway having two actuating members on the same side of the garage door projecting up to a point in the path of the front axle of the automobile so as to bile front axle as it passes in and out, means connecting the actuator with the said `bar to shift the bar longitudinally, and means bar with "he door to swing the, door open.

2. In an automatic garage door opener, the combination of a door mounted to swing on a vertical axis, a tudinally toward or from the garage door and located in the driveway, an actuator mounted in the driveway andprojecting up to a. point in the path of the front axle `of the automobile so as to be struck by the automobile as it passes, means connecting the actuator with the said bar to shift the bar longitudinally, means connecting the bar with the door to swing the door open, and a second actuator connected with the first actuator so as to be moved to an elevated position when the rst actuator is depressed and connected with the bar to move the same in the opposite direction to close the door. f

8. In `an automatic garager door opener,

the combination of a door mounted to swing i on a vertical axis, a bar guided to slide longitudinally toward or from the garage door and located. in the driveway, an actuator mounted in the ing up to a point inthe path of the front axle of the automobile so as to be struck by the automobile as it passes, means connecting the actuator with the said bar to shift the bar longitudinally, means connecting the bar with the door a second actuator on the same side of the v garage door as 'same in the opposite the garage doors be struck alternately by the automo-V bar guided to slide longi-v driveway and project-V the rst actuator movable in thefopposite direction fromjthe first actuator, connected with the bar to move the door, and means for supporting and .guiding said actuators so that when one is in an elevated lposition the other is depressed, enabling the `same to operate alternately to open and closethe garage door.

d; In an automatic garage door opener, the combination of a pair of garage doors mounted to swing on a vertical axis, a crosshead with means connecting the same with when the cross-head is actuated, a bar connected with the cross-head and extending longitudinallyin the garage driveway, an actuator connected with th bar for shifting the's'ame inwardly, by la bracket on the axle of the automobile when Vpassing into the garage, a second actuator connected Ywith the b'ar for shifting the same in an outward directionand adapted to be struck by a bracket on the axle ofthe automobile as it comes out of the garage, and means for supporting and guidingsaid actuators kso that when veither of them is `elevated the other-is depressed.

5. In an vautomatic garage dooropener, the combination of a post disposed en each side ofthe garage doorway, means for supporting the vpost to enable thesaine to turn: doorl on its longitudinal axis, a garage secured to each post, a pinion rigid on each post, a cross-head vhaving a rack meshing with the outer side of each pinion, a shifting bar attached to the cross-head and mounted to slide longitudinally inthe garage driveto swing the same openV and adapted to be struck direction to close the S0k Y way, an actuator attached to the barfor shifting the same inwardly to open the garage doorsand projecting upwardly sov as to vlie in the path ofv a bracket carried by the axle of the-car, a second actuator connected with the shifting upwardly so Aas to be in the path of a bracket carried by the cars axle for shifting the bar in an outward direction to close the garage doors, and means for supporting and guiding the actuators so that they operate alternately, one of vthe said actuators being depressed bar and projecting when the other is elevated.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif., this 30thv y `day of December, 1926. y to swing the door open,

f JAMiis L. Loving. 

